Brownell's has a neat service available through their tech staff... When buying parts and such they keep tabs on how many have been sold and how many returned... They almost never get a Bold trigger back, for example.
Oxphoblue is the best cold blue out there IME&O. The key is in getting the metal HOT. I pour boiling water on the metal and get it way too hot to touch. Put the OxphoBlue on and it will get things deep blue!
The color in that 31 finish is from age, not color applied at the factory. Applying a colored finish you can only guess at is a mistake, IMO. The 31 finish is varnish-based and probably just needs a good cleaning. Formby's furniture refinisher applied on a rag will allow you to clean off the grime on both pieces and probably do most of what you want to do.
Oils are the easiest finishes to apply and apply well. Spray cans do not add anything to the quality of the finish, nor to the ease of application. I consider oil finish in a can the answer to the question no one should be asking...
art
